WILLIMANTIC — Windham High coach Brian Crudden couldn't remember a time when his Whippets got off to a faster start.

"Boom-boom like that, I don't think so," Crudden said with a laugh.

In the first 21 seconds, the Whippets used two fumbled kickoffs to score two consecutive touchdowns and put Bacon Academy into a state of shock that it never recovered from. The next four Windham possessions also resulted in scores and the Whippets walked off with a 54-15 win over the Bobcats Friday.

Jack Risley's kick to open the game was an end-over-end squibber that bounced up and struck a Bacon player who couldn't corral it. Sophomore Cullen Contos pounced on it for the Whippets (6-4) at the 33-yard line.

It's an old adage, but it works in football: strike while the iron is hot. Crudden noted that Bacon was playing without a safety and took advantage. Despite being a run-first team, Risley, Windham's quarterback, went play-action to fullback Gilberto Torres and then looked over the middle. Cutting across from the field from the left was halfback Joe Santiago and the lack of a safety meant there wasn't a defender in sight. Risley hit the junior in stride for the first score.

"I just stepped up into the pocket and Joe usually does a deep post, that time he was just coming across the middle and I saw him perfectly and just got it to him," Risley said.

Not done

But the Whippets were hardly done as another Risley kick was mishandled by Bacon Academy on the ensuing kickoff.

"Never, never saw that before, it was surprising to me," Risley said of the two Bacon drops.

Francarlos Rivera was able to pick the ball up for the Whippets. It worked so well the first time, Crudden couldn't resist trying it again. Risley went belly option left, not giving the ball to the Santiago, but rolling to the left where he noted Dakota Fleming (4 catches, 69 yards) had a step on his defender. Risley laid in another perfect strike — as befits his status as a pretty good pitcher in baseball as well as a quarterback in football — and hit the receiver for a 37-yard score.

"It was nice to see Dakota catch four passes and one of them was a touchdown, because we really haven't got the ball to Dakota," Crudden said. "He really hasn't had as many touches this season as I would have liked him to have and I'm happy that he had a good night."

Bad night for Bacon

It was the exact opposite on the other side, the furthest thing from a good night. Just 21 seconds into the game and the Bobcats (2-8) were staring at a 14-point deficit.

Page 2 of 2 - "We were shell-shocked after that," Bacon coach Erik Larka said. "We had all seniors out there on our return team. Seniors have to make big plays in big games and we had a lot of seniors let us down (Friday)."

It was the start of a coaches' dream as the Whippets literally did nothing wrong on the offensive or defensive side in the first half.

Santiago (8 carries, 99 yards) added a 55-yard score and Risley (9-for-13, 146 yards passing) found him again for a 22-yard touchdown that was helped by a nice Rivera block. A Gilberto Torres 3-yard run gave Windham the 34-0 halftime lead.

"I can't even think of anything that went wrong, it was just a perfect half," Risley said.